List of United States airmen

This is a list of people who served in the United States Air Force, the Air National Guard, or their antecedents in the Army. See also Graduates of the United States Air Force Academy.

A

John Agar - Film actor
Paul W. Airey – First Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
Frank Albertson - Film actor
Buzz Aldrin – Astronaut (Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 – second man to walk on the Moon)
Robert Altman – Film director
William Anders – Astronaut (Apollo 8 – first flight to orbit the Moon)
Michael P. Anderson – Astronaut (Killed in Columbia Accident)
Sunny Anderson – Radio and television personality
Edward Anhalt – Novelist and screenwriter
Richard Arlen - Film actor
Hap Arnold – Aviation pioneer and General of the Air Force
Xavier Atencio – Film animator
Gene Autry – Film actor, singer, and Major League baseball team owner
Al Anthony – Radio personality

B

Charles Bronson

Alonzo Babers – Airline pilot and Olympic athlete
Max Baer, Jr – Film actor
Hobey Baker – Amateur hockey player
Bernt Balchen – Norwegian-born aviation explorer
Thomas Scott Baldwin – Pioneer balloonist
Martin Balsam – Film actor
Sy Bartlett – Film screenwriter and producer, co-author of Twelve O'Clock High
Chuck Bednarik – Professional football player
Art Bell – Talk radio personality
Lloyd Bentsen – Senator of Texas, 1988 vice presidential nominee, 69th Secretary of the Treasury
James Best – Television and film actor
John Birch – East China missionary
Barry Bishop – Member of the first American team to summit Mount Everest
Charles F. Blair, Jr. – General officer, and husband of actress Maureen O'Hara
Esther Blake – First female member of the United States Air Force
John Boccieri – Member of Congress of Ohio.
Richard Bong – American Ace of Aces
Frank Borman – Astronaut (Gemini 7 and Apollo 8 – first flight to orbit the Moon)
Bill Bowers – Screenwriter
Boxcar Willie – Country music entertainer
Lewis H. Brereton - Aviation pioneer and only active duty member of USAF and all of its forebears
Charles Bronson – Film actor
Dale Brown – Author
Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. – Tuskegee Airman, educator, and TV personality
John Bunch – Jazz pianist
William Bundy – CIA analyst and foreign affairs advisor
George W. Bush – 43rd President of the United States
Craig D. Button – Victim of mysterious flight and crash
Red Buttons – Film actor

C

Jacqueline Cochran

Dann Cahn – Film editor
Frank Capra - Film director
George Carlin – Actor & Comedian
Conlan Carter - Television actor
Johnny Cash – Country Music Singer
James Lea Cate - Historian
Clint Castleberry – College football player
Clarence Chamberlin - Barnstormer and aviation pioneer
Harry Chapin – Singer/songwriter
Hollis B. Chenery - Economist
John Ciardi – Poet
Beryl Clark - Professional football player
Hal Clement - Author
Larry Clinton – Band leader
William Close – Surgeon and physician, father of actress Glenn Close
Lee J. Cobb - Film actor
Jacqueline Cochran - Aviator; co-founder and director of the Women Airforce Service Pilots
Red Cochran - Professional football player, coach, and scout
Charles J. Colgan – Virginia politician and founder of Colgan Air.
Eileen Collins – Astronaut (STS-84, STS-93, STS-114)
Michael Collins – Astronaut (Gemini 10 & Apollo 11)
Ramón Colón-López - First Hispanic recipient of the Air Force Combat Action Medal
Jackie Coogan – Film and television actor
Gordon Cooper – Mercury Astronaut (Mercury 9 & Gemini 5)
Merian C. Cooper – Adventurer and film producer
Joseph Cotten - Film actor
James E. Counsilman - Collegiate swimming coach
Clyde Cowan – Physicist and discoverer of the neutrino
James Gould Cozzens – Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
Adrian Cronauer - Lawyer, media expert, and inspiration for the film Good Morning, Vietnam

D

Sabu Dastagir

Sabu Dastagir - Film actor
Tom Daschle – Senator of South Dakota
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. – First African-American USAF general officer
Bud Day - Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam POW.
James Dickey - Poet
Brian Donlevy – Film actor
Jimmy Doolittle – Test pilot and aeronautical engineer
Bob Dornan - Member of Congress from California and talk radio personality
Dr. Seuss – Author
Charles Duke – Astronaut (Apollo 16)

E

Robert Ellenstein - Film and television actor
Jules Engel – Filmmaker and animator
Joe Engle – Astronaut, X-15 and space shuttle pilot

F

Fred D. Fagg Jr. - 2d Director of Air Commerce and 6th president of the University of Southern California
Norman Fell - Film and television actor
Bryce Fisher - Professional football player
Kelly Flinn – First female B-52 pilot
Tennessee Ernie Ford – Television comedian and recording artist
Nathan Bedford Forrest III – Great-grandson of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest
Joe Foss – Marine Corps ace and 20th Governor of South Dakota
John Frankenheimer - Film director
Arthur Franz – Film actor
Morgan Freeman – Film actor
Theodore Freeman – Astronaut (first fatality)

G

Hank Greenberg, Hall of Famer and 2-time MVP

Clark Gable – Film actor
Ernest K. Gann – Novelist
William T. Gardiner - 55th Governor of Maine
Robert Gates – 22d United States Secretary of Defense
Marvin Gaye – Singer
Elmer Gedeon – Three-sport college athlete and professional baseball player
Arthur Godfrey – Television personality
George Gobel – Television comedian
Barry Goldwater – Senator of Arizona and 1964 presidential candidate
Alberto Gonzales – 80th United States Attorney General
Dick Grace - Film stunt flyer
Lindsey Graham – Senator of South Carolina
Susan Grant – Novelist
Peter Graves – Film and television actor
Hank Greenberg – Major League baseball player
Gus Grissom – Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Astronaut

H

LeRoy Homer Jr.

William Wister Haines – Novelist, screenwriter, and playwright
Arch Hall, Sr. - Film screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker
Iceal Hambleton – Missile expert, subject of "Bat 21" rescue
Arthur B. Hancock, Jr. - Thoroughbred racehorse breeder
Michael Hayden – 19th CIA Director
Van Heflin – Film actor
H. John Heinz III – Senator of Pennsylvania.
Joseph Heller – Novelist
Skitch Henderson – Band leader
Chad Hennings – Professional football player
Jim Hensley – Beer executive and father-in-law to John McCain
Don Herbert – Television personality as "Mr. Wizard"
Charlton Heston – Film actor
John Hillerman – Film actor
Ben Hogan - Professional golfer
William Holden – Film actor
Tim Holt – Film actor
LeRoy Homer Jr. – Airline pilot, co-pilot of United Airlines Flight 93
John Hope – Television meteorologist
Rick Husband – NASA astronaut (killed in the Columbia accident)
Mac Hyman - Novelist

I

James Irwin – Astronaut (Apollo 15)

J

James Jabara – First American jet ace
Bernard James - NBA player for the Dallas Mavericks
Randall Jarrell – Poet
Rick Jason - Film and television actor
Russell Johnson – Film and television actor
Sam Johnson – Member of Congress of Texas
Bobby Jones – Amateur golf champion
David M. Jones – Doolittle Raider and POW of Stalag Luft III.

K

William Keighley - Film director and actor
Nicholas Katzenbach – 65th United States Attorney General
DeForest Kelley – Film and television actor
Arthur Kennedy – Film actor
Ron Kenoly – Christian music worship leader
Algene and Frederick Key – Brothers and aviation pioneers
Iven Kincheloe – Air Force test pilot
Micki King – Olympic diving gold-medalist and athletic coach
Wally Kinnan – Pioneering meteorologist
Irvin Kershner - Film director
Norman Krasna – Screenwriter
Joseph M Karkosky III - USAF Veteran 2000-2004

L

Alan Ladd

Alan Ladd – Film actor
Fiorello H. La Guardia – Mayor of New York City
Frank Purdy Lahm – First military aviator
Tom Landry - Dallas Cowboys football coach
Beirne Lay, Jr. – Screenwriter, co-author of Twelve O'Clock High
Norman Lear – Television and motion picture producer
Curtis LeMay – USAF Chief of Staff and 1968 vice presidential candidate
John Levitow – Enlisted recipient of the Medal of Honor
Buddy Lewis - Major League baseball player
Charles Lindbergh – Legendary aviator
Roger Locher - USAF pilot whose rescue was the deepest inside North Vietnam during the entire Vietnam War
Donald S. Lopez, Sr. – Ace with the Flying Tigers
Robert Moffat Losey - Meteorologist; considered to be the first American military casualty in World War II
Nancy Harkness Love - Aviator and co-founder of the Women Airforce Service Pilots
Frank Luke Jr. – Medal of Honor recipient in World War I

M

James Meredith in 1962

MC Tee – Musician
Gordon MacRae – Broadway and Film actor
John Lee Mahin – Screenwriter and film producer
Karl Malden – Film actor
Delbert Mann - Television and film director
Paul Mantz – Film stunt pilot
Dean Paul Martin - Singer and actor
Tony Martin – Entertainer
Vernon Martin - Professional football player
Jerry Mathers – Television actor
Walter Matthau – Film actor
T. Allen McArtor – Business executive and FAA Administrator
Kevin McCarthy – Film actor
Joseph C. McConnell – Leading U.S. ace of the Korean War
George McGovern – Senator of South Dakota, 1972 presidential nominee
Robert McNamara and the Whiz Kids – Ford Motor Company executives
James Meredith - Civil Rights figure; first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi
Gary Merrill – Film actor

Major Glenn Miller

Ray Milland - Film actor
Dana Mohler-Faria – President, Bridgewater State College
Nicole Malachowski – First woman pilot with United States Air Force Thunderbirds
Glenn Miller – Musician and band leader
Ron Miller – Businessman and politician
Walter M. Miller, Jr. – Science fiction author
John Purroy Mitchel - 95th Mayor of New York City
Billy Mitchell – Grandfather of the U.S. Air Force.
Cameron Mitchell – Film actor
Nicole Mitchell - TV meteorologist
George Montgomery – Film and television actor
Clayton Moore - Television actor
Dodge Morgan - Single-handed sailor and entrepreneur
Charles Munger – Billionaire investor
Richard Murphy – Film screenwriter

N

Jack Narz - TV game show host
Mike Nesmith - Guitarist, member of "The Monkees," and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune
Chuck Norris – Actor
Willie Nelson - Singer and songwriter
Dean Neistat - Actor, Stuntman, C-17 Instructor Pilot

O

Edmond O'Brien – Film actor
Jarvis Offutt – Air Service aviator and namesake of Offutt Air Force Base.
Robin Olds – Two-war triple ace
George Olesen - Cartoonist
Patrick O'Neal - Film actor

P

Tom Poston

Jack Palance – Film actor
Ron Paul – Member of Congress; 1988, 2008 & 2012 Presidential candidate
John Payne – Film actor
Stacy Pearsall - combat photographer, twice winner of the NPPA Military Photographer of the Year award
Oscar Francis Perdomo – "Ace in a Day"
Leo Penn - Film director
Leonard Pennario – Concert pianist and composer
Sonny Perdue – 81st Governor of Georgia.
H. Ross Perot, Jr. – Member of the Forbes 400 and son of Ross Perot
Rick Perry - 47th Governor of Texas
Paul Picerni - Actor
Tom Poston – Television comedian
William H. Pitsenbarger – Enlisted recipient of the Medal of Honor
Robert M. Polich, Sr. – Recipient of Distinguished Flying Cross and POW of Stalag Luft III
Gregg Popovich – Head Coach of the NBA professional basketball team San Antonio Spurs
H.C. Potter - Film director and producer
Jody Powell – White House Press Secretary
Francis Gary Powers - CIA U-2 spy plane pilot
Robert Preston – Film and Broadway actor

Q

Elwood R. "Pete" Quesada – Aviation pioneer
Robin Quivers – Co-host of the Howard Stern Show

R

Dennis Rader – BTK Serial Killer
John Randolph - Broadway and film actor
Gene Raymond – Film actor
Ronald Reagan – 40th President of the United States
Chuck Reed – Mayor of San Jose, California and his daughter, Kim Campbell, a decorated Iraq War pilot
George Reeves – Television and film actor
William Rehnquist – 16th Chief Justice of the United States
Roy Riegels – All-American football player
Robinson Risner - A decorated USAF General and Vietnam POW.
R. Stephen Ritchie – USAF Ace in the Vietnam War
Martin Ritt - Film director
Gene Roddenberry – Television producer
Marion Rodgers-Communications Specialist, Former Tuskegee Airman
Elliott Roosevelt – Son of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Quentin Roosevelt – Son of Theodore Roosevelt, killed in WWI
Bob Ross – Painter
Chelcie Ross – Film actor
Dan Rowan – Comedian and television actor
Eddie Rickenbacker – Leading American World War I ace
Dick Rutan - Aviation record-holder and aircraft designer

S

Mickey Spillane

Brig. Gen. Stewart ca. 1960

James Salter – Novelist
Mark Sanford – 115th Governor of South Carolina
Roy Scheider – Actor
Bob Schieffer – Television journalist
Tex Schramm - President and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys
Dick Scobee – Astronaut, killed in Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
David Scott – Astronaut (Gemini 8, Apollo 9, and Apollo 15)
Donald E. Scott – All-American college football quarterback
Lance Sijan – Medal of Honor recipient
Sinbad – Actor & Comedian
Deke Slayton – Mercury and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project astronaut
Jack Smight - Theater, film and television director
Tubby Smith - NCAA Men's Basketball Coach
Carl Spaatz – Pioneer airman, first Chief of Staff of the Air Force
Aaron Spelling – Film and television producer
Mickey Spillane – Crime novelist
Bill Stealey – Business CEO and co-founder of MicroProse
David Steeves – Pilot who crashed in the Sierra Nevada and endured a nearly two month survival ordeal.
George Steinbrenner – Team owner of the New York Yankees
Robert Sterling – Film actor
Craig Stevens – Television actor
Ted Stevens – Senator of Alaska
James Stewart – Film actor
Bert Stiles – Author
Ralph Story – Television personality
Dale E. Stovall - USAF General, decorated Vietnam War search and rescue pilot
John Sturges - Film director
Chesley Sullenberger – Airline pilot, hero of Miracle on the Hudson
Bruce Sundlun - 71st governor of Rhode Island
Charles Sweeney – Pilot who flew the Fat Man bomb to Nagasaki.
Jack Swigert - Astronaut and congressman-elect

T

Don Taylor - Film actor
Fred Taylor – College basketball coach
Kenneth M. Taylor – World War II ace at the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Jamie Teachenor – Multi-Platinum Country Music singer/songwriter
Hunter S. Thompson – Writer
Harrison R. Thyng – Two-war ace and Senate candidate
Stephen W. Thompson - First U. S. aviator to shoot down an enemy aircraft.
Bobby Thomson – Major League baseball player
Leo K. Thorsness - Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam POW.
Paul Tibbets – Commander of the Enola Gay
Mel Tillis - Country Music Singer
Tuskegee Airmen – First African-American military pilots

U

Stewart Udall – 37th United States Secretary of the Interior

V

Joyce (Bailey) Damron Voyles - Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, The Pentagon, Washington DC. Defense Meritorious Service Medal recipient

W

Flip Wilson

Joseph A. Walker – X-15 test pilot
Kenneth N. Walker – Medal of Honor recipient, airpower visionary
George Wallace – 45th Governor of Alabama and presidential candidate
Jack L. Warner – Hollywood film executive
Jack Webb – Film and television actor, director, and producer
George Welch – World War II ace, decorated for heroism at the Attack on Pearl Harbor
David Westheimer – Novelist
Ed White – Astronaut (Gemini 4, first American to walk in space)
Frank D. White – 41st Governor of Arkansas
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney – Businessman
John Hay Whitney – Newspaper publisher and Ambassador to Great Britain
Thornton Wilder – Novelist and playwright
Flip Wilson - Comedian
Heather Wilson – Member of Congress of New Mexico
Reality Winner – Whistleblower
Harris Wofford – Senator of Pennsylvania
Alfred Worden – Astronaut (Apollo 15)
James C. "Jim" Wright, Jr. – U.S. Representative from Texas and 56th Speaker of the House
William Wyler – Film director

Y

Coleman Young – Mayor of Detroit (1974–1994)
Chuck Yeager – Air Force test pilot

Z

Louis Zamperini – Olympic distance runner
Darryl F. Zanuck - Film producer and executive